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jenduende

@jenduende.bsky.social

22K followers 130 following 64 posts

Senior editor, The Atlantic. New York Times + Washington Post alum. 2012-13 Nieman fellow. Occasional writer, always a dancer.

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Nov 17

Doctor Zhivago, Pina, In the Mood for Love, @ellecordova.bsky.social, Lego Masters, Ada Limón—got to write about some of my favorite culture-y things for our Sunday newsletter @theatlantic.bsky.social.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

A Classic Blockbuster for a Sunday Afternoon

Culture and entertainment musts from Jen Balderama

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · 1d

In other countries, Marina Lopes writes, stipends for grandparents "recognize a fact of family life that tends to go unacknowledged in the United States: that the contributions of older people are essential labor that deserves to be remunerated." www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution

Pay grandparents.

www.theatlantic.com

jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · 1d

"Many Americans might balk" at the thought of paying grandparents, Marina Lopes writes. But the benefits "ripple through society": parents get affordable, reliable care; grandparents get financial support; and children learn early the value of caring for kin. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution

Pay grandparents.

www.theatlantic.com

jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · 1d

Where the grandparents are willing: Would you pay them for child care? Marina Lopes makes a persuasive case for doing just that: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution

Pay grandparents.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · 5d

“I am absolutely terrified that they would take away what I do have…because they took away what I did have.” @nicolechung.bsky.social on birth mothers in open adoptions and what happens when their contact with their children is curtailed: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

When Adoption Promises Are Broken

Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · 20d

Parents and educators, please share with your schools: @theatlantic.com is offering U.S. public high schools FREE IP-based access to our journalism—an excellent way to improve news literacy and inspire a new generation of independent thinkers. For info, visit theatlantic.com/hsaccess.

The Atlantic

theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Sep 5

As a person who doesn't get invitations to reunions (because: didn't do normal high school), I'm fascinated by other people's—and am loving this essay by Jordan Michelman (h/t my @theatlantic.com colleague Serena Dai for shepherding) www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

What’s the Point of a High-School Reunion?

Social media should have killed them. Instead, they’re popular again.

www.theatlantic.com

jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Sep 2

The inimitable @petridishes.bsky.social, saying it all out loud. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Apologies: You Have Reached the End of Your Free-Trial Period of America!

Want rule of law? That’s premium.

www.theatlantic.com

jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Sep 2

Excellent analysis from @katemanne.bsky.social
katemanne.substack.com/p/why-marria...

Why Marriage is an Appallingly Bad Deal for Straight Women

And the new explanation for why marriage rates are falling

katemanne.substack.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Aug 26

Loving this advice from James Parker to a 19-year-old pining for romantic attention: “You do not need to be thinner, smarter, or better. I don’t mean to be glib about the effects of generations of patriarchal damage and...consumerism, but—you’ve got to get that stuff out of your head. It’s poison.”

Dear James: I’ve Got a Bad Case of Unrequited Love

I’m 19, and I’ve fallen deeply for a colleague. But he’ll never feel the same.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Aug 25

A case against phones at school: Besides distracting kids from learning, phones are "a digital umbilical cord tethering students to their parents,” @gailcornwall.com writes—diminishing kids’ autonomy and setting an expectation that parents must always be on duty.
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

What Many Parents Miss About the Phones-in-Schools Debate

Some focus on reaching their children in an emergency—and overlook the devices’ everyday threats.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Aug 21

ICYMI: Fascinating piece by @faith-hill.bsky.social sky.social @theatlantic.com on single men choosing to become dads, and how this plays out in their personal relationships + affects their sense of self. A nuanced look at tangly territory:

www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The Growing Cohort of Single Dads by Choice

For some men, fatherhood is an answer to questions about modern masculinity.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jul 30

“When women realized they couldn’t rely on the men in their life, they tried instead to rely on other women,” @faith-hill.bsky.social @theatlantic.com writes. “In the end, misogyny got in the way of that too.” www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

First Came Tea. Then Came the Male Rage.

The app was meant to make dating safer for women. Data breaches exposing its users show why it was so popular in the first place.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jul 28

“I’ve experienced too many moments,” @jessicaslice.bsky.social writes @theatlantic.com, “trapped upstairs while my family laughs, argues, sings, or cries, just out of reach.” A beautiful, harrowing essay shepherded by @katecray.bsky.social. www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

Homes Still Aren’t Designed for a Body Like Mine

Why is it so hard for disabled people to find safe, accessible places to live?

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jul 9

A moving essay by Julie Kim, whose daughter is one of millions of students “at risk of losing access to the crucial support systems that enable them to participate in American classrooms and ordinary life." www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The Work of Caring for My Daughter Will Never Be ‘Efficient’

A constellation of people are essential to my disabled child’s life. Trump’s cuts to education and Medicaid threaten to steal them away.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 25

“More than one in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ,” @emmasarappo.bsky.social writes. This generation is often described as "entitled." But "personal liberty *is* an American entitlement, and these young people will not readily give it up." www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

This Pride Month, the Backlash Has Officially Arrived

Young LGBTQ people are facing the prospect of losing rights they thought they’d never have to worry about.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 25

+1 to this entire @nytopinion.nytimes.com project. "The financial strain of raising children is a contributing factor to lower birthrates around the world." / "Children are human beings; they shouldn’t be a luxury good." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...

Opinion | ‘Motherhood Should Come With a Warning Label’

www.nytimes.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 24

"Pick up a novel," @jeremygordon.bsky.social @theatlantic.com writes, for the value in seeking "new mental frontiers beyond the accumulation of information...It may shock you, the worlds you end up exploring—and the feelings you will stir up from nothing at all." www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...

The Real Reason Men Should Read Fiction

Literature is often pushed on allegedly reluctant men as a machine for empathy. I read it for a different reason.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 24

"One man has consistently cheered and helped execute the funding cuts that have exacerbated suffering and death." And yet...

Powerful reporting by @cwarzel.bsky.social and @hana-kiros.bsky.social @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Elon Musk Is Playing God

The tech billionaire wants to shape humanity’s future. Not everyone has a place there.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 13

"If I want to work at a place that is excited to publish a wide range of opinions about things that aren’t free speech and free markets, that won’t involve getting a different job at a different publication...” Welcome to @theatlantic.com @petridishes.bsky.social! www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

So, What Did I Miss?

“How much can possibly happen when I’m on parental leave?” I said five months ago.

www.theatlantic.com

jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 12

Victor Hugo "was suspicious of kings, and for good reason," Megan Garber writes @theatlantic.com. "That sound you keep hearing might be Hugo not just rolling in his tomb but protesting from it."
www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

What Trump Missed at the Kennedy Center

The president may love Les Mis—but he completely misunderstands it.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 10

With dating apps, “the slow burn has become less common,” @faith-hill.bsky.social @theatlantic.com reports. Instead, we get more snap judgments about romantic prospects—and, apparently, an increase in a “dreamily romantic notion” about how people fall in love.
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The Growing Belief in ‘Love at First Sight’

Dating vibes may be dark, but a surprisingly optimistic notion about romance seems to be making a comeback.

www.theatlantic.com

jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Jun 9

“We are all performing some identity, in some way, and I can live with being a ‘guy who loves his wife a lot,’ no matter what nicknames it brings.” It’s official: @jeremygordon.bsky.social @theatlantic.com is the sweetest. www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

In Defense of the ‘Wife Guy’

The phrase has become a pejorative. Why?

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · May 23

Some moral clarity from @julieebeck.bsky.social @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

It Should Not Be Controversial to Plead for Gaza’s Children

Israel’s limits on aid have put the region at “critical risk of famine.” Help is within reach. But it’s not enough—and it’s arriving too slowly.

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · May 8

Coming to you on Day 4 out of 5 of my kids’ most recent school spirit week, all I have to say is: I feel so seen. Thank you, @julieebeck.bsky.social — and @lianafinck.bsky.social for the wonderful art!:
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

A Totally Unnecessary Way to Stress Parents Out

The tyranny of school spirit days

www.theatlantic.com

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jenduende @jenduende.bsky.social · Apr 30

After the psychiatrist Sebastian Kraemer published an article on boys’ vulnerabilities, “the press said I was suggesting that boys should be treated more like girls,” he later wrote. Not so. “I said that boys should be treated more like human beings”: www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

What Parents of Boys Should Know

Daughters tend to receive higher levels of affection and patience at home than sons. But the sons might need it more.